Ether is a class of chemical compounds which contain an ether group ? an oxygen atom connected to two (substituted) alkyl or aryl groups ? of general formula R?O?R'. A typical example is the solvent and anesthetic diethyl ether, commonly referred to simply as "ether" (ethoxyethane, CH3-CH2-O-CH2-CH3). Physical properties Ether molecules cannot form hydrogen bonds among each other, resulting in a relatively low boiling point comparable to that of the analogous alcohols. However, the differences in the boiling points of the ethers and their isometric alcohols become smaller as the carbon chains become longer, as the hydrophobic nature of the carbon chain becomes more predominant over the presence of hydrogen bonding. Ethers are slightly polar as the C - O - C bond angle in the functional group is about 110 degrees, and the C - O dipole does not cancel out